


How to tell your boyfriend you love him

by randomwriter57



Series: Reigisa Week 2017 [6]
Category: Free!
Genre: Dorks in Love, Established Relationship, Love, M/M, Making Out, That's it that's the plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-20
Updated: 2017-01-20
Packaged: 2018-09-18 20:20:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9401396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/randomwriter57/pseuds/randomwriter57
Summary: The trouble with neglecting love for his entire life means that Rei feels way out of his depth when it comes to romance.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [Reigisa Week 2017](http://reigisaweek.tumblr.com), Day Six: Love

The trouble with neglecting love for his entire life means that Rei feels way out of his depth when it comes to romance  .  It was fine when they first confessed to each other, almost a year younger and bumbling around each other with the awkward grace of pubescent teenagers  . Back then, he could get away with taking his time to get used to public intimacy such as hand holding and hugs. Kissing was an exploration, then. A testing of the waters.  In terms of  relationship milestones, the fact that they haven’t hit the stage of saying “I love you” is testament to the fact they’ve only been together for  just  under a year  . 

 

But that’s the problem. They’re third years now. Nagisa is eighteen, and Rei only a month off the same age. At this point for most couples, those words should have  been spoken  , by now. 

 

Past their confession, Rei can’t recall either of them saying “I like you” in such explicit terms very often. They compliment each other, of course, and they show their love  non-verbally  all the time. Still, it feels to Rei as though not telling Nagisa the full extent of his feelings would be a dishonour to him. After all, this way, Nagisa will know that Rei is ready to  be committed  , if that’s what Nagisa wants.  

 

The only problem is timing.

Rei has figured out several elaborate plans for dates and other situations which might cause the optimal atmosphere for him to say those words  .  He has taken Nagisa to dinner (once - it was far too expensive to try again, especially after Rei ended up with food poisoning); They’ve gone to the cinema (but of course Nagisa wanted to watch a horror film, which ruined the atmosphere _completely_ ); Rei has even tried surprising Nagisa with small gifts (which Nagisa appreciated, of course, but the boy is so restless he can  barely  stay on one conversation for a few minutes)  .  Honestly  , Rei is starting to run out of ideas. 

(He’s even _googled_ it. Everything that came up was useless, though.  Even his friends could come up with better advice than that, though he’s not about to talk to them about an issue like this  . He can already hear the teasing.)

Why he is thinking about this in the middle of a study session, Rei isn’t sure. There’s no reason for it to have popped into his mind, considering he’s studying maths.  All he knows is that one minute he was completing an equation, and the next he was looking at Nagisa and wondering why he hadn’t said something already  . 

“Rei-chan?”

Speaking of, Nagisa looks up at him from across the table.  His face is the picture of befuddlement, his brows knitted together because for Rei, this behaviour is _weird_ . 

“Yes, Nagisa-kun?” Rei says, gripping his pen more  tightly  , as though grounding himself.  

 

Nagisa frowns at him for a moment before suggesting they take a break. When Rei agrees, the older boy shuffles round to his side of the table and nuzzles against his arm.

“You think too much, Rei-chan.”

 

“I know,” Rei says. He presses a chaste kiss to the top of Nagisa’s head and feels Nagisa’s lips curl into a smile on his shoulder.

It begins  sweetly  . Nagisa kisses Rei’s shoulder, butterfly-light, fluttering on the cotton of his shirt. Then he moves up, following his collarbone to his neck before lingering on his jawline.  Rei closes his eyes and lets the soft lips trail over his cheek, staying close even as Nagisa shifts himself into a more comfortable position straddling Rei’s legs  .  He kisses Rei’s cheekbone and moves up to his temples, ghosting over his forehead before settling on the bridge of his nose  . The kiss he presses there is firmer, smoothing out the line caused by the furrow of his brows from minutes ago.  Gently  , he takes off Rei’s glasses before cupping his face in his hands, guiding it so their lips align. 

 

Nagisa’s kisses are something Rei feels privileged to experience.  The warmth he pours into even the briefest touch, how he pays attention to every part of him whilst still letting Rei reciprocate, it’s a heavenly feeling  . Even when he isn’t kissing, Nagisa is always showing some kind of affection. There’s never a moment when Rei feels unloved, when Nagisa is with him.

 

Rei tries to follow that example. He buries his hands in Nagisa’s hair, caressing the soft curls. When Nagisa nips at his lip, he tugs a little on reflex. The first time he did this, he used too much force, but that was when they were still learning how to navigate each other. Now, when he does it, Nagisa lets out a soft moan against his lips and presses closer.

As Nagisa sucks at his bottom lip, Rei lets a hand drop to his waist, hovering before moving under his shirt, his thumb rubbing circles into toned muscles  .  At the contact, Nagisa responds by moving back to Rei’s neck, kissing a bruise to a place Rei knows tomorrow will be conspicuous but right now feels perfect  . He lets out a sound he might have  been embarrassed  about, had Nagisa not heard it plenty of times before. His fingers dig into Nagisa’s scalp. 

“ _Rei_ ,” Nagisa moans against his neck before moving back up to where Rei reconnects their lips with no hesitation  . The lack of an honorific feels like a confession, and Rei wants to hear it again. 

“ _Nagisa_ ,” he murmurs against the boy’s lips, feeling nails dig into his chest at the word. “I love you.” 

They both freeze.

Rei pulls back, his hands recoiling from their positions. _ Oh god, I’ve messed up, it was too soon, we’ve only  just  spoken each other’s names without honorifics, why did  I think  that was a good time to say something like that oh god- _

Except, contrary to his expectations, Nagisa’s entire being seems to glow at the words. His eyes are wide, light dancing with joy as his surprised face turns into a beam.  In that moment, seeing Nagisa with flushed cheeks and swollen lips, his hair all over the place, Rei finds he doesn’t regret his decision  . Not in the slightest. 

“I love you too,” Nagisa breathes. “I’ve waited so long to say that. To hear you say that.”

In a rare moment of confidence, Rei leans his head against Nagisa’s, letting his hands come to rest on his hips again. “Hazuki Nagisa, I love you."

“And I love you, Ryugazaki Rei.”

Their lips meet once again in a stream of mingled _I love you_ s, and Rei thinks that he isn’t quite so far out of his depth after all  . 

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me at [randomactuallywrites-57](http://randomactuallywrites-57.tumblr.com) on tumblr | [@randomwriter57](http://twitter.com/randomwriter57) on twitter!


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